Perhaps this American violence is the legacy , the curse, of a country reared on mass extermination of First Nations people, the cruelty of hundreds of years growth on the backs of black slavery and a civil war in which 600 thousand were killed by their own countrymen.

Perhaps these mass murders are the result of a cruel and uncaring society, that is just fine with 50 million people having no health care, and the fact that on average every year 35 thousand uninsured Americans die of treatable illness. The cruelty of a society that says I've got mine and to hell with you.

Thom's article -- "Two Simple Laws Could Solve America's Epidemic of Violence" -- is extremely persuasive. (I'm concerned that the title of the article might overstate the situation since neither I nor Tom can really KNOW if these 2 laws COULD or WOULD solve our violence issue.) But this is the nature of all attempts to reduce harmful human behavior -- you can either do nothing or do something, and if you want to do something it makes sense to look at prior history and see if humans have successfully reduced similar negative hu

“Today’s phrase”? “Conservative Christian”. As soon as you pick yourself off of the floor and stop laughing, just try and digest this hilarious and fraudulent, political label, for just a moment. “Conservative”? AND yet, simultaneously, “Christian”? A ridiculous notion, right? I mean, isn’t this particular label typically “proclaimed”, with a predictably- smug, self-righteous and indignant tone?

I have written several times about my belief the Donald Trump or my preferred term House Trump to encompass his constellation of captured satellite-individuals, has been under the control of and following the instructions from the crime organization headed by V. Putin. The goal of POUTS Trump appears to be the reduction of the U.S. Government into a state of chaos one small cut at a time.

Once again, Americans must confront another mass shooting at another school. Beyond the immediate outpouring of grief and sympathy, we conduct collective soul-searching about the motives and causes of these recurring tragedies. Inevitably, everyone retreats to familiar corners of the debate – is it the person or the weapon most at fault? Is it a lack of mental health care or easy access to military assault weapons? Should we install metal detectors and post armed guards at every public location in the nation or should we arm every man, woman and child and let t

The day after the Florida shootings this may seem off topic and a tad tone deaf. But maybe not. If we can't talk to each other all the framing in the world won't shift the debate, change minds. The left and the right seem to share this Army boots framing when it comes to guns. When passion, and achieving agendas by any means politics, replace respectful debate then no more than spinning society's wheels is almost always the long term result.

Yes, the latest school slaughter rightly appalls us. Congress may even give it a minute or two between war on terror appropriation “debates.” Losing a child - or children - to gun fire, bombs, to war related starvation or disease isn’t new to many on the receiving end of u.S.’s infernal killing. It’s been going on for a long time now. Just a few random, out of order paragraphs from a Tomdispatch essay:

I am an average American, Master’s degree in Business, retired, middle to low income, Christian, Vietnam War combat veteran (Company L, 75th Infantry Ranger, 101st Airborne Division), registered and active voter. I am not a political scientist. I am concerned about the politics of our country and the inability of our government to do what is necessary to have a successful governing mechanism. One of the problems as I see as an outsider to politics is the influence wealth has on the outcome of elections.

I just spoke with Congressman Pocan on Thom's show. He and Thom asked me to send them information in writing about the issues I was calling about. Here is that information (which I also sent to Congressman Pocan)

Now I've seen it all. There's an article on Fox News that tries to blame the uptick in male deaths at age 62 on getting their social security beneifts, which makes them lazy and less engaged and thus they end us dying at a higher rate.

2016 was the first Presidential Election that the "Voters Rights Act" wasn't fully enforced in fifty years! Thanks to a Robert's Republicon Controlled Supreme Court! And today it is a Republicon Stacked Court because they wouldn't allow Obama to appoint a new justice! So how do you think they will rule on gerrymandering this summer? Can we say COUP?